Stop! Holga Time…

Got my Holga 120N today from the hairy chap at the parcel depot . I showed it to my daughter and she said “That’s from McDonalds!“. I can see what she means. A hi-tech piece of kit it is not. But it has a charm about it.

In all its plastic glory

If you’ve never heard of a Holga or Lomography check out the Lomography website (I’m not going to rattle on about it here). The truth is, it’s going to be pretty tricky to get a really good photo with this. Tricky? Well, lucky maybe. Good? Well, it depends on how you react to that sort of image, pin sharp, well lit, flawless it will not be.

A while back I took this photo and, after a lot of post-processing, I got it to look fairly odd. I should get something odd without trying with the Holga.

But it’s the apparent randomness that made me want to have a go. There seems to be a spirit of adventure with the Lomo gang that is poles apart from the precision, noiseless world of microstock and the like. I’m not going to claim any artful intentions but you can accept the notion of pissing about in the hope that something cool happens. I’ve been reading lots of Holga tips and all the chat about preventing light leaks with black tape etc all sounds such a hoot. The great thing is, the camera only cost £15 on EBay, so it’s not like it’s a huge outlay ( film and processing aside! ).

I’m hoping to get at least a few decent shots to contribute to a photography project I’ve started. I know the shots I want to try and get (which is probably wrong in itself ). If I don’t, well, it’ll be fun to have had a go. Film should arrive before the weekend, I’ve got enough for 36 black and white shots and 36 colour shots. 72 shots is usually what I manage in 30 minutes in the Botanic Gardens. I’m going to have to think and plan. Which, in itself, is no bad thing.

However the photos turn out I’ll post them here.

If nothing else, my trusty DSLR and lighting kit managed to get a good photo of the new camera.